1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for displaying information graphically, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a computer controlled display system for managing and displaying screen objects on a computer screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over the past decade, a variety of graphic user interfaces have been developed to ease human interaction with computer systems. Many user interfaces use metaphors for the design of the interface as a way of maximizing human familiarity, and for conveying additional information between the user and computer without stating the information explicitly. Through the use of familiar metaphors, such as desktops, notebooks and the like, the interface takes advantage of existing human mental associations, to permit a user to draw upon the metaphor for understanding the requirements of the particular computer system, by analogy. It is well known that designing a new system around a familiar metaphor helps reduce human learning time.
In current generation systems, two metaphors are used in combination. First, programs or data files etc., are called objects, and are each displayed as a screen object, such as an icon. Second, a system of multiple windows is used to manage the icons for displaying and operating on them. The result is a so-called xe2x80x9cobject orientedxe2x80x9d display system.
More specifically, visually distinct display objects are provided on the display screen, and are commonly referred to as xe2x80x9ciconsxe2x80x9d. Each of the icons represents a function or object on the desktop. A user operates on the object by graphically operating on the icon. Accordingly, even non-expert users need fewer instructions.
Additionally, multiple xe2x80x9cwindowsxe2x80x9d combine text and graphics. The windows are used to classify the objects in groups, according to the user""s choice. Using a desk top metaphor, the windows may take the form of a variety of objects, such a file folders, loose leaf binders, or simple rectangles. The windows may overlap one another, with the xe2x80x9ctopxe2x80x9d window constituting the current work file.
In many systems, a cursor is also displayed on the screen, which serves as a pointer. The cursor may be selectively moved in response to the movement of a mouse or other pointer control device. The cursor may be moved over display objects which the user may select on the screen. The user may delete information from a window, move data from one window to another, and generally operate on the windows as if an actual file or other physical object is being manipulated. A variety of xe2x80x9cpull-downxe2x80x9d menus also may be displayed, using a technique for selecting particular command options appearing along a menu bar, and subcommand items corresponding to the command options.
As computers increase in memory and processing power, so does the ability to hold many programs and perform many tasks at once. While this is desirable to increase productivity, more programs mean more screen objects. Running them simultaneously requires increasing screen space, to have many windows open at once.
A solution to the increasing need for screen space has been to use xe2x80x9cvirtualxe2x80x9d windows or workspaces, that is windows that extend past the area (or xe2x80x9cviewpointxe2x80x9d) that the screen can present. These are brought into view by manipulating the viewpoint with respect to the workspace.
The very success of this solution is also its shortcoming. Technically, it permits making the workspace of infinite surface dimension, which thus can handle a very large number of screen objects. However, as the total area becomes larger and larger, the user increasingly loses the bigger picture of what other screen objects are active, and where they are. Worse, when he needs a specific one, he might not know towards which direction of the extended workspace to search, by bringing the viewpoint there. Searching then resembles a random walk in a two-dimensional field.
To address this problem, a mapping solution is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,390. It displays the currently selected original screen space in normal size and perspective, but in a reduced portion of the screen. In the flanks it displays a condensed, reduced, and thus also distorted version of objects in the virtual space. While this preserves the bigger picture and facilitates searching, the more virtual space it covers, the more it reduces the screen portion for the original display, and the more it diminishes the size of the screen objects in the flanks.
The present invention overcomes these problems and limitations of the prior art.
Generally, the present invention provides a user interface and methods for managing a group of screen objects.
The interface of the invention establishes a viewport in a portion of the screen. The interface includes a set of planes, and each screen object is assigned to one of the planes. A tab identifying each plane is always visible, and is used to select one plane at a time, for viewing at the viewport. The objects of the selected plane are thus displayed and available for handling as is known.
The objects can be moved between planes. In addition, new planes can be created and old planes can be deleted. Moreover, the planes are presented as stacked in a sequence, which is reflected in the order of the tabs. The sequence can also be changed.
Optionally and preferably, in addition to the objects of the selected plane, there are also viewable in the viewport the objects of the next plane in the sequence. The objects of the next plane are seen less prominently, possibly obscured by those of the selected plane, and can not be worked upon. Accordingly, when the user navigates by selecting a next plane in the sequence, some objects are maintained on the screen, but their appearance and availability is changed. This creates a sense of moving perpendicularly to the screen, which creates a sense of depth, while not requiring virtual windows that extend outside the viewport.
There can be a very large number of planes, which can accommodate a very large number of screen objects. The user can quickly view the entire interface by successively clicking on the tabs, thereby changing planes. Searching is a linear procedure, which goes through planes. Since the planes are in a sequence, navigation between them thus becomes more intuitive, by capitalizing on the user""s already established sense of depth as a third dimension.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, which proceeds with reference to the drawings.